Need Help with XK-140 Engine Rebuild Project

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rafe Saber on December 28, 2010 at 1:33pm

New XK 140 book just out with rave reviews JAGUAR XK 140 EXPLORED. Also available from the JCNA bookstore. Hope that helps.

Permalink Reply by Ken Smiley on December 29, 2010 at 9:17am

I ordered the book yesterday, thanks!

Rafe Saber said:

New XK 140 book just out with rave reviews JAGUAR XK 140 EXPLORED. Also available from the JCNA bookstore. Hope that helps.

Permalink Reply by Philip Nixon on December 30, 2010 at 4:40am

I picked up a DVD from a classic car show last year. It is an instructional thing on rebuilding the XK engine. Not being an engine expert I cannot judge how basic it is but for somebody who has never rebuilt an engine before (me!), I found it informative especially as it is about the XK engine. The website is www.classiccarengines.co.uk.

Hope this helps.

Regards
Philip

Permalink Reply by Philip Nixon on December 30, 2010 at 4:42am

There is also a book called How to Power Tune Jaguar XK engines by Des Hammill which might be useful.

Philip

Permalink Reply by Mack Besser on December 30, 2010 at 10:01pm

One of the most important aspects of your rebuild is attention to the cooling passages & chambers in the block & head. The common machine shop "hot tank" cleaning, although removing the grime, is not sufficient. With all the freeze/core plugs removed, one must poke, prod & persuade the built up rust silt to be dislodged.  Also, due to the block being cast iron, there will be many ridges & flash castings between the cylinders, etc.  These must all be removed; a die grinder with long arbors & conical sanding drums will be necessary. Same goes for the cylinder head. Also, the cooling passages that transfer water from block to head (small, oval openings), must be sanded with the smaller of the sanding drums. Further, the water jackets of the intake manifold should receive the same attention. You will be surprised at the amount of casting flash the manifold contains, and much of it is quite accessible. With proper tools, SAFETY GLASSES, in 6 hours you should have the job done. You will not find this in any rebuild book-factory, JCNA bookstore, Barnes & Nobles, etc. But many decades of experience have shown my customers that an XK car can be driven in very hot weather & not be subject to overheating. This modification lessens impedance of the water flow through the cooling system.  The smoother you can adapt the accessible passages, the cooler your car will run.  Remember, re-tork cylinder head several times prior to starting the engine, and at least once, post initial run-in when cooled down overnight. The XK engines we service all have cylinder heads re-torked as basic maintenance-so easy to do. None of our client's head gaskets ever failed. Best Regards, Mack

P. S. Have many other tricks @ my disposal!

Permalink Reply by Ken Smiley on December 30, 2010 at 11:26pm

Mack,
I appreciate the insight, I haven't had a chance to look at the block in detail, I'm busy degreasing the engine compartment, sanding, priming and painting the frame and associated metal bits so it looks reasonably presentable before the engine and tranny go back in.  I'll pass along your tips to my shop to make sure their engine block person is familiar with the techniques you mention.  Our car sat for 40 years so I'm sure there's lots of crud to clean out of that block.  :)

Mack Besser said:

One of the most important aspects of your rebuild is attention to the cooling passages & chambers in the block & head. The common machine shop "hot tank" cleaning, although removing the grime, is not sufficient. With all the freeze/core plugs removed, one must poke, prod & persuade the built up rust silt to be dislodged.  Also, due to the block being cast iron, there will be many ridges & flash castings between the cylinders, etc.  These must all be removed; a die grinder with long arbors & conical sanding drums will be necessary. Same goes for the cylinder head. Also, the cooling passages that transfer water from block to head (small, oval openings), must be sanded with the smaller of the sanding drums. Further, the water jackets of the intake manifold should receive the same attention. You will be surprised at the amount of casting flash the manifold contains, and much of it is quite accessible. With proper tools, SAFETY GLASSES, in 6 hours you should have the job done. You will not find this in any rebuild book-factory, JCNA bookstore, Barnes & Nobles, etc. But many decades of experience have shown my customers that an XK car can be driven in very hot weather & not be subject to overheating. This modification lessens impedance of the water flow through the cooling system.  The smoother you can adapt the accessible passages, the cooler your car will run.  Remember, re-tork cylinder head several times prior to starting the engine, and at least once, post initial run-in when cooled down overnight. The XK engines we service all have cylinder heads re-torked as basic maintenance-so easy to do. None of our client's head gaskets ever failed. Best Regards, Mack

P. S. Have many other tricks @ my disposal!

Permalink Reply by Joel Ljungkull on January 9, 2011 at 12:46pm

Do not reuse any moving parts of the engine without reconditioning first. The oil pump for the 3.4 liter 140 engine has since been replaced with the one from the 4.2 L engine. An O-ring must be placed on the pick-up tube, since it is smaller than the inlet on the later pumps. Allow .0035" clearance between the OD of the finished cylinders and the ID of the new pistons. The shop manual calls for .0015", but that spec is per each side of the piston, not total clearance. Remove only the minimum amount of material from the head and block surfaces. If you remove too much, you will reduce the amount of adjustment on your upper timing chain. Fly-cut the aluminum cylinder head, do not mill or grind it. The surface must be very smooth to properly seal the steel head gasket. A gasket sealer, such as Copper Coat, should be used on the head gasket to assure a good seal. The bottom half of the rear main oil seal will often show signs of wear left by the scroll on the rear of the crankshaft. The clearance of this seal should be .0005". In order to get this, you must remove just enough material from the flat mounting surfaces of the bottom half until the crank seizes when a .001" shim is placed between the bottom half and the scroll on the crank, after torquing. Remove the bottom half and the shim, and torque the bottom half back on. You now have .0005" clearance between the top and bottom of the seal. Be very careful when reassembling the new oil pump and distributor shaft. There is a flat milled on the OD of the sleeve that goes into the block. That flat must be located at the oiling hole in the block, otherwise the distributor shaft will not get lubricated. Dorman makes a 1 3/4" expandable copper frost plug. These offer a much more positive seal than the original dished pancake style. Plus, they can be easily removed and replaced with the engine still in the car. When installing new timing chains, all the sprockets, (lower, intermediate, and cam) should be replaced as well. Check the front aluminum timing chain cover for corrosion in the water pump area. If corrosion is evident, it must be replaced, as repair is difficult if not impossible. If the block is to be resurfaced, the timing chain cover must be attached first.

Make sure you use the services of a quality machine shop. Give them all your specs, and double check all your sizes before reassembly. Good luck.

Joel